TEXTUAL VARIANT NOTES:

¶LAUS DEO.[v]

TEXTUAL VARIANT NOTES:inc.Esta tragecomedia pastoril foy feytaBcom hum parvo & dizC.2.estrellaB4.CastellaB7.yrB24.despañaB34.quant'elleC.53, 54.Imperatriz,ImperadorC.100.faz un rey cousasB102.atrauesBa travésC.109.tósC.116.dá-lheC.123.phantesiaC.125.quereraB127.seguem dous açoresC.135.reccadoC.152.lendesC.159.porqueA,BC,D,E.porqu'é?161.curesA,BcuidesC.167.do melãoA,Bde melãoC.172.Arrenega tuA,BArrenego euC.179.outraA,BoutremC.196.tem-teC.197.IndaC.231.com tigoA,BcomtigoC.261.sêsC.265.rogotoA.rogo-teC.276.almaA.a almaC.284.doA.deC.299, 300.ver-te-hasC.308.ca mãoA,Bca a mãoC.327.libaraB328.quereloA,Bquerê-loC,D,E.332.bemA,BvemC,D,E.353.eu amarguraB354.quasiA,Bqu'assiC.378.lhe bastaC.392.vayamonosA.vayamosC.407.maasA.maisC.408.descorteesA.descortesBdescortezC.427.moncarrazA,BMonçarrazC.456.mamiA.a miC.462.Desunt 462-577inB469.a creaturaC.477.escriptasC.482.& diz FernandoA.& diz o ErmitãoC.487.Escri.A.(Lê o Ermitão o escrito)C.498.alto, nomeC.499-500.EscritoA.(Lê o Ermitão)C.530.amigoA,BC,D,E.marido?545.D'infindoC.566.Desunt566-8inC.608.CeaC.609.recentesC.613.duzentasC.618.tan grossa, tam san.B628.Aguias reaes.B630.penedos.BPenados.C.635.brocados.C.645-6.Desunthum se chama.etoutro.inC.Iorge.C.647.extremo.C.649.Castelhanos.C.655.estrellaB660.hamA.ha hiC.668.auia, haviaA,BC,D,E.queria?685-6.CantigaB711.chacotezinhaA,BchacotazinhaC.713-4.he a seguinte CantigaC.ad fin.¶Laus DeoB

inc.Esta tragecomedia pastoril foy feytaBcom hum parvo & dizC.

2.estrellaB

4.CastellaB

7.yrB

24.despañaB

34.quant'elleC.

53, 54.Imperatriz,ImperadorC.

100.faz un rey cousasB

102.atrauesBa travésC.

109.tósC.

116.dá-lheC.

123.phantesiaC.

125.quereraB

127.seguem dous açoresC.

135.reccadoC.

152.lendesC.

159.porqueA,BC,D,E.porqu'é?

161.curesA,BcuidesC.

167.do melãoA,Bde melãoC.

172.Arrenega tuA,BArrenego euC.

179.outraA,BoutremC.

196.tem-teC.

197.IndaC.

231.com tigoA,BcomtigoC.

261.sêsC.

265.rogotoA.rogo-teC.

276.almaA.a almaC.

284.doA.deC.

299, 300.ver-te-hasC.

308.ca mãoA,Bca a mãoC.

327.libaraB

328.quereloA,Bquerê-loC,D,E.

332.bemA,BvemC,D,E.

353.eu amarguraB

354.quasiA,Bqu'assiC.

378.lhe bastaC.

392.vayamonosA.vayamosC.

407.maasA.maisC.

408.descorteesA.descortesBdescortezC.

427.moncarrazA,BMonçarrazC.

456.mamiA.a miC.

462.Desunt 462-577inB

469.a creaturaC.

477.escriptasC.

482.& diz FernandoA.& diz o ErmitãoC.

487.Escri.A.(Lê o Ermitão o escrito)C.

498.alto, nomeC.

499-500.EscritoA.(Lê o Ermitão)C.

530.amigoA,BC,D,E.marido?

545.D'infindoC.

566.Desunt566-8inC.

608.CeaC.

609.recentesC.

613.duzentasC.

618.tan grossa, tam san.B

628.Aguias reaes.B

630.penedos.BPenados.C.

635.brocados.C.

645-6.Desunthum se chama.etoutro.inC.Iorge.C.

647.extremo.C.

649.Castelhanos.C.

655.estrellaB

660.hamA.ha hiC.

668.auia, haviaA,BC,D,E.queria?

685-6.CantigaB

711.chacotezinhaA,BchacotazinhaC.

713-4.he a seguinte CantigaC.

ad fin.¶Laus DeoB

Page 1

TheAuto da Alma, produced probably in 1518, which in some sense forms a Portuguese pendant to theRecuerde el almaof Jorge Manrique (1440?-79), is a Passion play, corresponding to the modernStabaton the eve of Good Friday, and was suggested, perhaps, by Juan del Enzina'sRepresentacion a la muy bendita pasion y muerte de nuestro precioso Redentor.It was not, however, acted in a convent or church, but in the new riverside palace which saw so many splendidserõesduring King Manuel's reign (1495-1521). King Manuel was now in the full tide of prosperity. His sister, Queen Lianor or Eleanor (1458-1525), Gil Vicente's patroness, who so keenly encouraged Portuguese art and literature, was the widow (and first cousin) of his predecessor, King João II. The theme of the play, the contention of Angel and Devil for the possession of a human soul, was far from new. Its treatment, however, was original and the versification is clear-cut and well sustained throughout, while a deep sincerity and glowing fervour raise the whole play to the loftiest heights. The metre is mostly in verses of seven short (8848484) lines (abcaabc) with an occasional slight variation. There is a French version of the play, presumably in verse (seeDurendal, No. 10: Oct. 1913:Le Mystère de l'Âme; tr. J. Vandervelden and Luis de Almeida Braga), but the difficult task of translating it would require, to be successful, the delicate precision of a Théophile Gautier. In his hands it might have become in French a thing of beauty and a joy for ever, as it is in the original Portuguese. As to the text, without emulating the pedantry of the critic who added a fourth season to Shelley's three, and thereby provoked a splendid outburst of wrath from Swinburne, we may assume that in passages where Vicente appears to have gone out of his way to avoid a required rhyme, this is merely a case of corruption repeated in successive editions. Thus in theAuto Pastoril Portugues, whereCatalina minha damarhymes withtoucadawe may perhaps substitutefadafordama. (Cf.Serra da Estrella, l. 530:amigoformarido.) So here verse 114 must readtristeza, nottristura, to rhyme withcrueza. In 3 one of themantimentosshould perhaps bealimentos: see Lucas Fernández,Farsas(1867), p. 247 (cf. the twovaydadesin 14); in 26fortunasshould probably readfarturas(cf.essas farturasin theDialogo sobre a Ressurreiçam); in 35 the wordsmui fermosos, or a single longer word, have evidently dropped out; in 54tendeswas perhaps an alteration by some critic who did not realize that the Angel might naturally associate itself with the Church (or with the Soul) and saytemos; the last line of 100 was perhaps the wordpecadoraore senhora(cf. Fr. Luis de León,Los Nombres de Cristo, Bk I:mi única abogada y señora); in 108 also a line is missing and a rhyme required forfigura(lavradomust go withDeos,tristewithvereis, omittingseu). On the other hand it is hardly necessary to alter 42 or 45 (although hereesmaltadois in the air) or 46 so as to make them exactly fit the metre.

1perigos dos immigos, cf.Os Trabalhos de Jesus, 1665 ed. p. 94:o caminho do Ceo he cercado de inimigos e perigos para o perder. Qualibus in tenebris vitae quantisque periclis Degitur hoc aevi quodcunque est!

7Cf. Newman,The Dream of Gerontius, l. 292et seq.:

O man, strange composite of heaven and earth,Majesty dwarfed to baseness, fragrant flower, etc.

7-10These exquisite verses have something of the scent and perfection of wild flowers, and that mystic rapture which is not to be found in Goethe's more worldlyFaust. We may, if we like, call theAuto da Alma(as also the witch-scene in theAuto das Fadas)a 16th centuryFaust, but really no parallel can be drawn between the two plays. Theethereal beauty of Vicente's lyricalauto, carved in delicate ivory, is far less varied and human: it has scarcely a touch of the cynicism and not a touch of the coarseness of Goethe's splendid work cast in bronze. It can be compared at most with such lyrical passages asChrist ist erstandenorAch neige, Du Schmerzenreiche, Dein Antlitz gnädig meiner Not, and as a whole is a mere lily of the valley by the side of a purple hyacinth.

9Planta sois e caminheira. Cf. the white-flowered 'wayfaring tree.'

16-17This passage resembles those in the Spanish playsPrevaricación de AdánandLa Residencia del Hombrequoted in theRevista de Filología Española, t.IV(1917), No. 1, p. 15-17.

17Cf.The Dream of Gerontius, l. 280et seq.: 'Then was I sent from Heaven to set right, etc.'

18porá grosa, attack, criticize, gloss. (=glosar. Cf. the modern 'to grouse.')

35Cf. Antonio Prestes,Auto dos Cantarinhos(Obras, 1871 ed. p. 457):todo Valença em chapins. Thechapimwas rather a high-heeled shoe than a slipper. The reference is to the Spanish city Valencia del Cid. Cf. Fr. Juan de la Cerda ap. R. Altamira,Historia de España,III, 728: 'En una mujer ataviada se ve un mundo: mirando los chapines se verá a Valencia'; Alonso Jerónimo de Salas Barbadillo inEl Cortesano Descortés(1621) speaks of 'un presente de chapines valencianos'; and inLa Pícara Justina(1912 ed. vol.I, p. 70) we have 'un chapin valenciano.'

38marcante. In theAuto da Feirathe Devil is similarly abufarinheiro(pedlar) andmercante.

43a for da corte.For=foro(v. Gonçalvez Viana,A postilas, vol.I, p. 353).

58Cf. Plato,Respublica, 365: α̃̓δικητέον καὶ θυτέον ἀπὸ τω̑ν αδικημάτων, κ.τ.λ. Vicente in his plays often inculcates the need of something more than a formal religion.

xiquer. Cf.Auto da Barca do Inferno:Isto hi xiquer irá.

59-60 These two verses are in the true spirit of Goethe's Mephistopheles.

62esta peçonha. Would Vicente have written thus (cf. 66 andObras,III, 344, sermon addressed to Queen Lianor; and also Garcia de Resende,Miscellanea, 1917 ed. p. 50) of the soul had there been the slightest gossip or suspicion that his patroness, Queen Lianor, had poisoned her husband? (See the most interesting studies inCritica e Historia, por Anselmo Braamcamp Freire, vol.I. Lisbon, 1910.)

71Cf.The Dream of Gerontius,. l. 210-1:

Nor do I know my attitude,Nor if I stand or lie or sit or kneel.

73day passada=perdoai,dai licença. Cf. Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcellos,Eufrosina,II, 5. 1616 ed. f. 79 v.

77In Basquepastoralesone of the main attributes of the devils and the wicked is that they are never quiet on the stage. In theAuto da Cananea(1534), a play in many ways resembling theAuto da Alma, the lineComo andas desosegadorecurs, addressed by Belzebu to Satanas. It is the 'incessant pacing to and fro' ofThe Dream of Gerontius(l. 446). In its beauty and intensity as a whole and in many details Cardinal Newman'sThe Dream of Gerontiusis strikingly similar to theAuto da Alma. But in it the strife is o'er, the battle won, and the sanctified soul, rising refreshed from sleep with a feeling of 'an inexpressive lightness and sense of freedom,' passes serenely, accompanied by its guardian angel, above the 'sullen howl' of the demons in the middle region. Cf.Calte por amor de Deus, leixai-me, não me persigaiswith 'But hark! upon my sense Comes a fierce hubbub which would make me fearCould I be frighted' (l. 395-7).

80Cf. Amador Arraez,Dialogos, No. 1, 1604 ed. f. lv.:S. Jeronimo diz que é grande o reino, potencia e alçada das lagrimas...atormentam mais aos Demonios que a pena infernal.

84The author of theVexilla regishymn was Venantius Fortunatus (530-600).

95Cf. Antonio Feo,Trattados Quadragesimais(1609),IIf. 23:assy na Cruz como no monte Oliueto chorou porque vio vir a quem ouuera de chorar.

97Cf. Gomez Manrique,Fechas para la Semana Santa(ap. M. Pelayo,Antología, t.III, p. 92).

108Cf. Juan del Enzina,Teatro(1893), p. 39:Veis aqui donde vereis Su figura figurada Del original sacada.

116dais o seu a cujo he, cf.Triunfo do Inverno:Porque se devem de dar As cousas a cujas são;C. Res.I(1910), p. 64:dar o seu a cujo hee.

121Cf. Gomez Manrique,Fechas(Antolog.t.III, p. 93):

Y vamos, vamos al huertoDo veredes sepultadoVuestro fijo muy prouadoDe muy cruda muerte muerto.

Page 23

The expedition to capture from the Moors the important town of Azamor in N. W. Africa consisted of over 400 ships (Luis Anriquez in his poem in theCancioneiro Geralsays 450) and a force of 18,000 soldiers, of which 3000 were provided by James, Duke of Braganza, who commanded the expedition. It set sail from Lisbon on the 17th of August, 1513. (Damião de Goes and Osorio say the 17th, Luis Anriquez the 15th, which was evidently the day (the Feast of the Assumption) fixed for departure.) It was entirely successful and the news of the fall of Azamor caused great rejoicings both at Lisbon and Rome. The play was evidently touched up afterwards, for it includes the sending of the elephant to Rome (1514) and the marriages of the princesses. It is barely possible that it was written after the victory, in which case the wordsna partidawould be retrospective and the date given in the 1st edition was not a slip. Parts of the play suit 1514 better than 1513. Tristão da Cunha's special mission (cf. lines 195-6) to the Pope (with Garcia de Resende for secretary) left early in 1514 and entered Rome on March 12. One of the objects of the mission was to obtain a grant of the tithes (ll. 194, 224) for the Crown to use for the war in Africa. (The request was granted but King Manuel subsequently renounced them in return for 150,000 gold coins.) The exhortations of l. 351et seq., l. 514et seq., l. 559et seq.are better suited to a time when more men and money were needed actively to continue the war than when an army of 18,000 was equipped and ready to leave. The Pope in 1514 promised indulgences to all those who should contribute money for the African war and also granted King Manuel a portion of church property in Portugal (cf. ll. 475-84 and 535-48) for the same object (l. 546:pera Africa conquistar). The King's aim is now to build a cathedral in Fez (l. 573-4). There is no mention of Azamor. This was the first of the great patriotic outbursts (cf. theAuto da Famaand other plays) in which Vicente appears not as a satirist or religious reformer but as an enthusiastic imperialist, and which still delight and stir his countrymen.

18Prince Luis (1506-55), one of the most gallant, talented and interesting of Portugueseinfantes, was no doubt present at theserãoand would be delighted by this reference. (The youngest princes, Afonso, born in 1509, and Henrique, born in 1512, are not mentioned. They both became Cardinals and the latter King of Portugal, 1578-80.) The princes are similarly addressed in theCortes de Jupiterin 1521.

46Mercury opens theAuto da Feirawith a similar string of absurdities (suggested by Enzina'sperogrulladas), e.g.Que se o ceo fora quadrado Não fora redondo, Senhor; E se o sol fora azulado D'azul fora seu cor. (If square the sky were found then it would not be round, and if the sun were blue then blue would be its hue.)Os disparates de 'Joan de Lenzina'(Ferreira,Ulys.IV, 7) were well-known in Portugal.

94,113,129No meaning is to be squeezed out of these cabbalistic words.

116We have an even more detailed description in theSumario da Historia de Deos:

A furna das trevas, ponte de navalhas,o lago dos prantos, a horta dos dragos,os tanques da ira, os lagos da neve,os raios ardentes, sala dos tormentos,varanda das dores, cozinha dos gritos,Açougue das pragas, a torre dos pingos,o valle das forcas.

125Vicente was more tolerant than most contemporary writers who inveighed against the blindness and malice of the Jews.

132The necromancer evokes spirits which he is unable to control. He calls them brothers but they answer in effect: 'Du gleich'st dem Geist den du begreif'st, nicht mir.'

151Thealmude= 12 gallons.

156Cabrela e Landeira is a village near Montemôr-o-Novo. Cf.Sum. da Hist. de Deos:

Satanas: Sabes Rio-frio e toda aquela terra,aldea Gallega, a Landeira e Ranginhae de Lavra a Coruche? Tudo é terra minha.

157Cartaxo, a small town in the district of Santarem.

158The village of Lumiar is now connected with Lisbon by a tramway.

159Mealhada, a parish in the district of Aveiro.

162Cf.uva terrantes(indigenous).

164Ribatejo = the country along the river Tejo (Tagus). Cf.Auto da Feira:Vai-te ao sino do Cranguejo, Signum Cancer, Ribatejo.

168Arruda dos Vinhos and Caparica are villages in a vine-growing district on the left bank of the Tagus opposite Lisbon, near Almada.

173estrema=marco(Sp.mojon). Cf.Auto da Festa, ed. Conde de Sabugosa (1906), p. 110:Este he da pedra do estremo.

174diademais usually masculine, but Antonio Vieira has it both ways.

176Seixal (2500-3000 inh.) in the district of Almada.

177Almada, formerly Almadãa (Arab = the mine, but as Englishmen settled there in the 12th century it was later given the fanciful derivation All made or All made it), a town of 10,000 inh., opposite Lisbon on the left bank of the Tagus.

179Tojal (= whin-moor, gorse-common), a small village near Olivaes (= olive groves), in the Lisbon district.

195The impression produced by the arrival in Rome of King Manuel's elephant, panther and other magnificent gifts was vividly described by several writers. Cf. Damião de Goes,Chron. de D. Manuel, Pt 3, cap. 55, 56, 57 (1619 ed. f. 223 v.-227). According to Ulrich von Hutten the elephant 'fuit mirabile animal, habens longum rostrum in magna quantitate; et quando vidit Papam tunc geniculavit ei et dixit cum terribili vocebar, bar, bar' (apud Theophilo Braga,Gil Vicente e as Origens do Theatro Nacional(1898), p. 191). Cf. also Manuel Bernardez,Nova Floresta,V, 93-4. The head of this celebrated elephant forms the background to a portrait of Tristão da Cunha (head of the embassy to the Pope) reproduced in Senhor Joaquim de Vasconcellos' edition of Francisco de Hollanda'sDa Pintura Antigva(Porto, 1918).

229In 1517 among other exotic presents a rhinoceros was sent to the Pope. It was however shipwrecked and drowned on the way. It had the honour of being drawn by Albrecht Dürer.

238Vicente seems to have coined this intensive ofbellisima.

243-4 Cesar = King Manuel. Hecuba = his second wife, Queen Maria, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.

249Prince João, born in 1502, afterwards King João III (1521-57).

259The Infanta Isabel (1503-39) married her first cousin the Emperor Charles V, and in her honour on that occasion Vicente composed hisTemplo de Apolo(1526). Hermarriage may have already been planned in 1513, but more probably Vicente altered the passage when he was preparing the 1st edition of his works during the last months of his life. Gil Vicente more than once refers to her great beauty. Her portrait by Titian in the Madrid Prado fully bears out his praises and the expression on her face places this among the most fascinating portraits of women. The Empress is sitting by a window looking on to a beautiful country of woods and blue mountains, in her hand is a book; but one feels that she is thinking of neither book nor scenery but that her thoughts go back insaudadeto the soft air and merry days of Lisbon. It might indeed be a picture ofSaudade. There is a slight flush on her pale oval face. Her almond-shaped eyes are grey-green, her nose delicately aquiline. In the eyes and in the general expression there is a look of undeniable sadness. Her dress of plum, cherry-pink, gold and brown gives a gorgeously mellow effect and the curtain at the back is plum-brown. If the colouring seems at first too rich this is due to the criminal gold frame which clashes with the dress and the chestnut-golden hair. In a dark frame the picture would be twice as beautiful. The Empress' dress gleams with pearls and she has a jewel with pearls—set perhaps by Gil Vicente—in her hair, large pearl earrings and a necklace of large pearls. She died at Toledo at the age of 36 and lies in the grim Pantheon of the Kings in the Escorial crypt.

266Of Prince Fernando, born in 1507, Damião de Goes, who knew him personally, says: 'assi na mocidade como depois de ser homem foi de bom parecer e bem disposto, muito inclinado a letras e dado ao estudo das historias verdadeiras e imigo das fabulosas... Era colerico e apressado em seus negocios e muito animoso, com mostra e desejo de se achar em algun grande feito de guerra, mas nem o tempo nem o estudo do Regno deram pera isso lugar' (Chron. de D. Manuel,II, xix). Cf. Osorio,De Rebvs Emmanvelis(1571), p. 189: 'Fuit in antiquitate pervestiganda valde curiosus: maximarum rerum studio flagrabat multisque virtutibus illo loco dignis praeditus erat.'

275Princess Beatrice as a matter of fact married Charles, Duke of Savoy, and on the occasion of her departure from Lisbon by sea with a magnificent suite Vicente wrote theCortes de Jupiter(1521) with theromance:

Nina era la Ifanta, Dona Beatriz se dezia,Nieta del buen Rei Hernando, el mejor rei de Castilla,Hija del Rei Don Manuel y Reina Doña Maria, etc.

284Cf. theAuto das Fadas(with which this play has many points of resemblance):Feiticeira(ao principle e infantes):ó que joias esmaltadas, ó que boninas dos ceos, ó que rosas perfumadas!

331-2 Cf.Divisa da Cidade de Coimbra:Vai delas a eles tão grande avantagem... como haverá...do vivo a hũa imagem.

341Godos, Goths, i.e. of ancient race, 'Norman blood.'

346Fordioso=idosov.C. Geral, vol.II(1910), p. 153. Fernam Lopez,Chron. J. I.Pt. 2, cap. 10, hasdeoso.

384pequenas quadrilhas. When Afonso de Albuquerque began his glorious career (1509-15) there were in India but a few hundred Portuguese fighting men, and most of these badly armed. The whole population of Portugal during this time of fighting and discovery in N.-West, West and East Africa and India is by some calculated at a million and a half, by others at between two and three millions.

416Prov.mais são as vozes que as nozes.

418For this line cf. Pedro Ferrus:Que por todo el mundo suena(ap. Menéndez y Pelayo,Antología, t.I, p. 159 and Enzina,Egloga,V(ib.t.VII, p. 57)).

420pois que...pessoa, a homely version of Goethe'sWas du ererbt von deinen Vätern hast Erwirb' es um es zu besitzen.

470-4 These lines are translated from the Spanish poet Gomez Manrique (1415?-1490?). See Menéndez y Pelayo,Antología, t.VII, p. ccx.

Cf. Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcellos,Ulysippo,V, 7:Vos quando vos tirarem de Ansias e passiones mias e guando Roma conquistava.

487dom zote. Cf. suprazopeteand Sp.zote,zopo,zopenco,zoquete(a dolt); low Latinsottus; Dutchzot; Fr.sot; Eng.sot(bebe sem desfolegar).Zoteoccurs twice in theAuto Pastoril Portugues:muito gamenho(cf. Fr.gamin)zoteandAuto da Fé, l. 5.

534trepasis the Span. form (Port,tripas?).

538soyçosthe old,soldadosthe new, word for 'soldiers.' Cf. Lucas Fernández,Farsas(1867), p. 89:Entra el soldado, o soizo, o infante.

559This rousing chorus fitly ends a play from every page of which breathes the most ardent patriotism. Small wonder that King Sebastião (1557-78), with his visions of conquest and glory, read Vicente with pleasure as a boy.

561Cf. Gaspar Correa,Lendas da India,IV, 561-2:o Governador logo sobio e o frade diante dele bradando a grandes brados, dizendo: 'O fieis Christãos, olhai para Christo, vosso capitão, que vai diante'(1546).

Page 37

This is one of the most famous of those lively farces with which Gil Vicente for a quarter of a century delighted the Portuguese Court and which still hold the reader by their vividness and charm. Its fame rests on the portraiture of the poverty-stricken but magnificent nobleman who has been a favourite object of satire with writers in the Peninsula since the time of Martial, and who in a poem of theCancioneiro Geralis described in almost the identical words of Vicente's prefatory note:

o gram estadoe a renda casi nada

(Arrenegos que que fez Gregoryo Affonsso).

An alternative title of the play isAuto do Fidalgo Pobre, but the extremely natural presentment of the two carriers in the second part justifies the more popular name. The Court, fleeing from plague at Lisbon, was in the celebrated little university town of Coimbra on the Mondego and here Gil Vicente in the following year staged hisDivisa da Cidade de Coimbra, theFarsa dos Almocreves, and (in October) theTragicomedia da Serra da Estrellaand Sá de Miranda, in open rivalry, produced hisFabula do Mondego. But Gil Vicente was not to be silenced by the introduction of the new poetry from Italy and to these two years, 1526 and 1527, belong no less than seven (or perhaps eight) of his plays. Yet what a difference in his own position and in the state of the nation since his first farce—Quem tem farelos?twenty years before! The magnificent King Manuel was dead, and his son, the more care-ridden João III, was on the throne:

tão ocupadoco'este Turco, co'este Papaco'esta França.

There was plague and famine in the land. The discovery of a direct route to the East and its apparently inexhaustible wealth had not brought prosperity to the Portuguese provinces. There the chief effect had been to make men discontented with their lot and to lure away even the humblest workers to seek their fortune and often to find death or a far less independent poverty:

até os pastoreshão de ser d'el-Rei samica.

The result was that the old rustic jollity which Vicente had known so well in his youth was dying out, and the very songs of the peasants took a plaintive air:

E no mais triste ratinhos'enxergava hũa alegriaque agora não tem caminho.Se olhardes as cantigasdo prazer acostumadotodas tem som lamentado,carregado de fadigas,longe do tempo passado.O d' então era cantare bailar como ha de ser,o cantar pera folgar,o bailar pera prazer,que agora é mao d'achar[154].

Nor could it be expected that the richparvenu, the mushroom courtier, thefidalgo 'que não sabe se o é,'the palace page fresh from keeping goats in theserra, the Court chaplain anxious to hide his humble origin, would greatly relish Vicente's plays which satirized them and in which rustic scenes and songs and memories appeared at every turn. It was much like mentioning the rope in the house of the hanged, and these dainty and sophisticated persons would turn with relief to the revival of the more decorous ancient drama inaugurated by Trissino in Italy and in Portugal by Sá de Miranda.

3este Arnado. Cf. Bernardo de Brito,Chronica de Cister,III, 18: 'se foi [Afonso Henriquez] ao longo do Mondego por um campo q̃ então e no tempo de agora se chama o Arnado, trocado ja pelas enchentes do rio de campo cuberto de flores em um areal esteril e sem nenhũa verdura.' Cf.Cancioneiro da Vaticana, No. 1014: 'en Coimbra caeu ben provado, caeu en Runa ata en o Arnado.'

7See the Spanishromance(ap. Menéndez y Pelayo.Antología, t.VIII, p. 124): 'Yo me estaba allá en Coimbra que yo me la hube ganado.'

8, 9 The sense of these two obscure lines is apparently: 'Since Coimbra so chastises us that we are left without a penny.' Ruy Moniz in theCanc. Geral, vol.II(1910), p. 142, hasçimbrar ou casar. In Spanishcimbrar= 'to brandish a rod,' 'to bend.' In theAuto del Repelon, printed in 1509, Enzina has:El palo bien assimado Cimbrado naquella tiesta(Teatro(1893), p. 236) and Fernández (p. 25)No vos cimbre yo el cayado. Cf. Antonio Prestes,Autos(ed. 1871), p. 211:E o vilão vindo me zimbra: reprender-me!and João Gomes de Abreu (C. Ger.vol.IV(1915), p. 304)seraa rrijo çimbrado.preto=real preto, contrasted with the white (i.e. silver)real.

12Pelos campos de Mondego cavaleiros vi somarwere two very well-known lines apparently belonging to a real historical Portugueseromanceon the death of Ines de Castro. They occur in Garcia de Resende's poem on her death. See C. Michaëlis de Vasconcellos,Estudos sobre o romanceiro peninsular.

13Cf.Tragicomedia da Serra da Estrella(1527):Pedem-lhe em Coimbra cevada E elle dá-lhe mexilhões.

19milham, green maize cut young for fodder.

32ratinhos, peasants from Beira. They play a large part in Portuguese comedy.

80azemel=almocreve. Both words are of Arabic origin. Cf.almofreixeinfra.

93Endoenças=indulgentiae.Semana de Endoenças= Holy Week.

103In theAuto da LusitaniaVicente says jestingly, perhaps in imitation of the Spanishromances, that he was born at Pederneira (a small sea-side town in the district of Leiria). He mentions it again in theCortes de Jupiterand in theTemplo de Apolo.

109Cf. Alvaro Barreto inCancioneiro Geral, vol.I(1910), p. 322:poẽ me tudo em huũ item.

120It was the plea of Arias Gonzalo that the inhabitants of Zamora were not answerable for the guilt of Vellido Dolfos who had treacherously killed King Sancho:

¿Qué culpa tienen los viejos? ¿qué culpa tienen los niños?¿qué culpa tienen los muertos...?

129balcarriadas. Cf.Auto das Fadas:Venhas muitieramá com tuas balcarriadas;Auto da Festa:tão grão balcarriada;Auto da Barca do Purgatorio:Nunca tal balcarriada Nem maré tão desastrada. Couto,Asia,VII, 5, vii:Tal balcarriada(act of folly)foi esta. TheCanc. Geral, vol.IV(1915), p. 370, has the formbarquarryadas.

134Cf.Auto da Lusitania:um aito bem acordado Que tenha ave e piós(= well-proportioned).

135The numerous servants of the starvingfidalgosare satirized by Nicolaus Clenardus and others. Like the English as described by a German in the 18th century they were 'lovers of show, liking to be followed wherever they go by whole troops of servants' (A Journey into England, by Paul Hentzer. Trans. Horace Walpole, 1757). Clenardus in his celebrated letter from Evora (1535) says that a Portuguese is followed by more servants in the streets than he spends sixpences in his house. He mentions specifically the number eight.

141Alcobaça is the town famous for its beautiful Cistercian convent.

161Alifante.Cf. infra,avangelho.Aforeis still common in Galicia: e.g.mamoria(memory). Cf. Span. Basquebarri(new), for Fr. Basqueberri.

165The Dean was Diogo Ortiz de Vilhegas († 1544) successively Bishop of São Tomé (1534) and Ceuta (1540). See A. Braamcamp Freire inRevista de Historia, No. 25 (1918), p. 3.

224bastiães=bestiães, figures in relief. Gomez Manrique hasbestionesin this sense.

247In Antonio Prestes' playAuto do Mouro Encantadothe golden apples prove to be pieces of coal. So Mello in hisApologos Dialogaesspeaks of the treasure ofmoiras encantadaswhich all turns to coal.

269In Rey, the popular form ofEl-Rei(the king) is frequent also in the plays of Simão Machado, who died about a century after Vicente.

272It is tempting to add the wordmadraço(fool, ignoramus) for the sake of the rhyme. IfO recado que elle dáwere spoken very fast the line would bear the addition.

293Here, as often, the deeper purpose of Vicente's satire appears beneath his fun. The growing depopulation of the provinces was becoming painfully evident to those who cared for Portugal.

302Jorge Ferreira,Ulysippo,III, 5:não haveria corpo, por mais que fosse de aço milanes, que podesse sofrer quanta costura lhe seria necessaria;ib.III, 7:temos muita costura esta noite; muita costura e tarefa; Antonio Vieira,Cartas:tambem aqui teremos costura(1 de agosto de 1673).

310trapain Port. = 'a gin,' 'a trap,' but in Sp., as perhaps here, = 'noise,' 'uproar.'

327Cf.Farsa dos Fisicos:Praticamos ali O Leste e o Oeste e o BrasilandIII, 377; Chiado,Auto da Natural Invençam, ed. Conde de Sabugosa (1917), p. 74.

348The carrier comes along singing snatches of apastorelaof which we have other examples, of more intricate rhythm, in theCancioneiro da Vaticanaand the poems of the Archpriest of Hita and the Marqués de Santillana. A modern Galiciancantigasays that

O cantar d'os arrieirosE um cantariño guapo:Ten unha volta n'o medioPara dicir 'Arré macho.'

(Pérez Ballesteros,Cancionero Popular Gallego, volII, p. 215.)

355Cf.O Clerigo da Beira:Nuno Ribeiro Que nunca paga dinheiro E sempre arreganha os dentes; andAh Deos! quem te furtasse Bolsa, Nuna Ribeiro. Homem vai buscar dinheiro,A todo ele disse: Ja dinheiro feito é.

360uxtix,uxte. Ferreira de Vasconcellos,Eufrosina,II, 4:Tanto me deu por uxte como por arre.

atafal. Cf.Barca do Purgatorio(I, 258):amanhade-lhe o atafal(notamanhã dé-lhe).

363Candosa, a village of some 1400 inh. in the district of Coimbra.

369xulo=chulo,pícaro. The derivation ofchulois uncertain (v. Gonçalvez Viana,Apostilas, vol.I(1906), p. 299). While Dozy derives it from Arabicxul, A. A. Koster suggests the same origin as that of Fr.joli, It.giulivo, Catalanjoliu[= gay. Cf. Eng.jollyand the Portuguese word used by D. João de Castro:joliz], viz. the Old German wordjol(gaiety). Vid.Quelques mots espagnols et portugais d'origine orientale(Zeitschrift für rom. Philologie, Bd. 38 (1914), S. 481-2). The Valencian form for July (Choliol) may strengthen this view.

372Tareja is the old Portuguese form of Theresa.

375bareja=mosca varejeira.

379Aveiro. A town of about 7500 inh., 40 miles S. of Oporto. It was nearly taken by the Royalists in 1919.

398For the naturalness of this conversation cf. that of the peasants Amancio Vaz and Deniz Lourenço in theAuto da Feira.

410Pero Vaz' point is that the mules will not stop to feed in the cool shade of the trees but do so in the shelterlesscharneca.

429Cf. the act of D. João de Castro (1500-48) as before him of Afonso de Albuquerque in pawning hairs of his beard, and the proverbQueixadas sem barbas não merecem ser honradas.

435O juiz de çamora. In theromance Ya se sale Diego OrdoñezArias Gonzalo of Zamora says: 'A Dios pongo por juez porque es justo su juicio.' So that the judge of Zamora = God.

438-9 No one was better situated than Gil Vicente to criticize—and suffer the slights of—the brand-new nobility of the Portuguese Court. The nearer they were to the plough the more disdainful were they likely to be to a mere goldsmith and poet.

454desingulas(=dissimulas). Cf.Auto Pastoril Portugues:não o dessengules mais.Duarte Nunes de Leão,Origem da Lingva Portvgvesa(1606), cap. 18, includesdissingular(= dissimular) among thevocabulos que vsão os plebeios ou idiotas que os homens polidos não deuem vsar.

467For the form Diz cf.Auto das Fadas: Estevão Dis, andO Juiz da Beira: Anna Dias, Diez, Diz (= Diaz).

473Pero Vaz evidently did not know thecantiga:

A molher do almocrevePassa vida regaladaSem se importar se o maridoFica morto na estrada.

Cf. the Galician quatrain (Pérez Ballesteros,Canc. Pop. Gall.II, 219):

A vida d'o carreteiroÉ unha vida penada,Non vai o domingo á misaNin dorme n'a sua cama.

478Vicente refers to the Medina fair in theAuto da Feiraand again inO Juiz da Beira:morador en Carrion Y mercader en Medina.

498Folgosas. There are two small villages in Portugal called Folgosa, but reference here is no doubt to an inn or small group of houses.

506Vicente several times refers toVal de Cobelo, e.g.Comedia de Rubena:E achasse os meus porquinhos Cajuso em Val de Cobelo, and the shepherd in theAuto da Barca do Purgatorio:estando em Val de Cobelo.

529-30 Cf. Sá de Miranda, 1885 ed., No. 108, l. 261:Inda hoje vemos que em França Vivem nisto mais á antiga, etc. Couto (Dec.v, vi, 4) speaking of the mingling of classes, says: 'no nosso Portugal anda isto mui corrupto.'

537Cf.Comedia de Rubena:E broslados (= bordados) uns letreiros Que dizem Amores Amores.

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